Pablo's MMB-4

My lovely wife has purchased me a new kit for my birthday. Happy days. This is one I've wanted to do for a while, an MMB-4.

The package arrived today, so I thought I'd do the right thing and do a mock build and make sure everything is where it should be.
http://i.imgur.com/pJsS0ri.jpg
Certainly seems like it. :)

The neck is an almost perfect fit with the pocket, a first for me.
http://i.imgur.com/7YYRhxn.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Ip8OOAX.jpg
This bodes rather well.

I have a few mods planned out, but I expect this to be a fairly straight forward build. No idea what colour scheme I should go with, any suggestions?

Alas, now it must return to it's box for a month or so until my birthday actually arrives. Boohoo.

solid red, black or white would be my choices

If a stain something darkish like walnut. Something bright like a hemi orange if painted

very cool, and it would be awesome in satin black

What about metal flake blue Pabs

this

http://www.themusiczoo.com/images/5-...r_E87299_1.jpg

A very thoughtful birthday gift from your wife and a great looking kit. It's going to be hard to wait a few weeks!

Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I would prefer to stick to stains, but there is definitely some good ideas here. Keep them coming.

I'm not usually into basses pablo but that is one cool kit.
What about a stained Pacific Blue Burst?

Butterscotch/aged white would be my pick.

Fractal patterned surface https://youtu.be/B-knXQXGB08

Rip those speed humps out!

You must of been a dentist in a previous life DB lol

I realise you don't have a quilt but this would look great on the bass with clear coat.
https://youtu.be/VtgyN0HRA-M

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kimball492

You must of been a dentist in a previous life DB

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOtMizMQ6oM

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dingobass

Rip those speed humps out!

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http://ct.fra.bz/ol/fz/sw/i51/5/7/25...-no-191096.jpg

Dude, I'm just barely able to hit the right note when there are clearly defined boundaries.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pablopepper

Dude, I'm just barely able to hit the right note when there are clearly defined boundaries.

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I'm with Pabs on this one....old habits of a 6 stringer....

Looking forward to this build diary Pabs. Happy birthday mate.

Ok, thanks for the input fellas. I've narrowed the choice down to 3.

Walnut stain (thanks Tony)
http://media.musiciansfriend.com/is/...00-500x500.jpg

Blue burst (a lighter burst, but still thanks Euroa)
http://media.musicstorelive.com/cata...ar_1250081.jpg

Or Yellow/honey burst (inspired by my mate's Maton MS503)
http://i.imgur.com/L5jEPUU.jpg

I'm leaning pretty strongly toward the yellowburst at the moment, but I'm gonna sit on it a bit longer before I make a decision.

I reckon any of those 3 colours would look awesome Pabs but that honeyburst is pretty damn cool. I would lean toward a colour you haven't already got

Im torn...they all look awes

Hi Pabs, I'm with Woks as from memory you have already got a Blue RC4 and walnut is all too common on so many Basses thus leaving the yellow that would great with a black egg shaped scratch plate.

Edit...just went back and checked 1st shots and saw the white scratch & rosewood FB. Somehow don't think the white and yellow combo would work as well as black and yellow. No doubt you have plenty of resources to sort that out and can't wait to see what you end up doing.

+1 for the yellow, Man that maton is sexy.

Hi Craig, the MMB-4, great choice, I love mine. With all standard hardware these things sound awesome.

Any of those 3 on your short list will look cool, at least you have a few weeks to decide.

+1 for the yellowburst

That yellow burst is awesomeness , do it dude

Sweet, I think the yellow is the way to go then. Thanks guys. It's been a very long time since I've attempted a burst....

It would be a good one to replicate, very subtle

Yellow burst looks great Pabs. Great choice!

cheers,
Gav.

I've been a good boy and not touched this kit until after my birthday. Couldn't wait any longer and got stuck into the headstock today.

http://i.imgur.com/dkRSlvI.jpg
Going with the classic 3+1 Musicman style.

http://i.imgur.com/1WmRamX.jpg
Bandsawed to shape, cleaned up with the disc sander and files, pilot hole drilled and fashioned a plug from the waste. Still heaps of sanding to go and I need to fill the plug slightly with sawdust and glue before i decide whether it needs a veneer.

Noice work Pabs! The grain match on the plug is pretty darn close eh?

http://i.imgur.com/Nutelou.jpg
Bored out the tuner hole with an 18mm spade bit. Half way through the front and then the rest of the way through the back to avoid any tear out.

http://i.imgur.com/BpFJssg.jpg
Aaannndd it all fits! Definitely should have checked that before I started drilling holes.....

looking cool already mate

Nice work Pabs.

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

headstock looking great already Pabs

So, filling out the plug with sawdust and glue did not go particularly well, just made the join even more noticeable. Oh well, veneer was always the plan anyway.

http://i.imgur.com/mwkZPY1.jpg

Luckily enough, I found an old veneer sample pack I forgot I had. Grabbed the only light coloured one left and went with that, slightly off colour, but who really cares.

First attempt at veneering.
http://i.imgur.com/0N1uBg1.jpg
Did the back of the headstock first, just in case I fluffed it. Turned out much better than I expected.

http://i.imgur.com/AWR5Pu0.jpg
Front veneer clamped and left overnight.

http://i.imgur.com/IDHeyGp.jpg
Cut, filed, sanded, finished, happy.

All in all, a successful first venture into laminating veneers. Not without stress, but a decent outcome in the end. Neck mods finished, on to the body!

nice work Pabs looks great, what type of timber is the veneer ?

Thanks mate. I've got no idea what timber it is, apart from the distributor's name, the pack is unlabeled.

no worries, its pretty light colour veneer with not much grain but looks great and hides the plugged tuner hole. Any idea what the thickness was have you got digital verniers ?

It was 0.6mm. Just happened to check that before I began.

I'm installing an active preamp so I need a battery.

https://i.imgur.com/jnNLCyq.jpg
Routed out and squared the corners with a chisel.

https://i.imgur.com/wnUaB1J.jpg
I was going to recess it, but as there is only about 5mm left, the extra 2mm seemed to risky and as i have interrupted the hole for the bridge ground, that needs to travel under the box now. I can live with it.